LOS ANGELES -- A large Los Angeles hospital chose to pay hackers who were holding its computer network hostage, a move its CEO said was in its best interest and the most efficient way to end the problem.

Hollywood Presbyterian Medical Center showed uncommon transparency in saying Wednesday that it paid the 40 bitcoins - or about $17,000 - demanded when it fell victim to what's commonly called "ransomware."

The hacking tactic is growing fast against both individuals and institutions, but it's difficult to say exactly how fast, and even tougher to say how many pay up.

"Unfortunately, a lot of companies don't tell anybody if they had fallen victim to ransomware and especially if they have paid the criminals," said Adam Kujawa, Head of Malware Intelligence for Malwarebytes, a San Jose-based company that recently released anti-ransomware software. "I know from the experiences I hear about from various industry professionals that it's a pretty common practice to just hand over the cash."

Computer security experts normally recommend people not pay the ransom, though at times law enforcement agencies suggest they do, Kujawa said.

The FBI said it is investigating the ransomware attack, but have provided no details beyond that.

During 2013, the number of attacks each month rose from 100,000 in January to 600,000 in December, according to a 2014 report by Symantec, the maker of antivirus software.

A report from Intel Corp.'s McAfee Labs released in November said the number of ransomware attacks is expected to grow even more in 2016 because of increased sophistication in the software used to do it. The company estimates that on average, 3 percent of users with infected machines pay a ransom.

The infiltration at Hollywood Presbyterian was first noticed on Feb. 5, CEO Allen Stefanek said in a statement. Its system was fully functioning again by Monday, 10 days later.

The hospital did not say whether anyone in law enforcement or the technology business had recommended it pay off the hackers and quickly obtain the digital key used to be able to access its data again.

"The quickest and most efficient way to restore our systems and administrative functions was to pay the ransom and obtain the decryption key," Stefanek said. "In the best interest of restoring normal operations, we did this."

Neither law enforcement nor the hospital gave any indication of who might have been behind the attack or whether there are any suspects.

Bitcoins, the online currency that is hard to trace, is becoming the preferred way for hackers collect a ransom, FBI Special Agent Thomas Grasso, who is part of the government's efforts to fight malicious software including ransomware, told The Associated Press last year.

Patient care at Hollywood Presbyterian was not affected by the hacking, and there is no evidence any patient data was compromised, Stefanek said.

The 434-bed hospital in the Los Feliz area of Los Angeles was founded in 1924. It was sold to CHA Medical Center of South Korea in 2004. It offers a range of services including emergency care, maternity services, cancer care, physical therapy, and specialized operations such as fetal and orthopedic surgeries.

Advertisements

Latest Tech & Science News

Facebook said on Sunday it was conducting a "comprehensive internal and external review" to determine if the personal data of 50 million users that was reported to be misused by a political consultant for the Donald Trump presidential campaign still existed.
Source

Facebook said on Sunday it was conducting a "comprehensive internal and external review" to determine if the personal data of 50 million users that was reported to be misused by a political consultant for the Donald Trump presidential campaign still existed.
Source

This year's edition of eSports' biggest annual tournament, The International "Dota 2" Championships, will take place in Vancouver after six years in Seattle. With a prize pool regularly floating north of US$20 million, The International is a prestige fixture on the eSports circuit.
Source

MENLO PARK, Calif. -- Facebook has a problem it just can't kick: People keep exploiting it in ways that could sway elections, and in the worst cases even undermine democracy. News reports that Facebook let the Trump-affiliated data mining firm Cambridge Analytica abscond with data from tens of millions of users mark the third time in roughly a year the company appears to have been outfoxed by crafty outsiders in this way.
Source

LONDON -- The head of the British Parliament's media committee on Sunday accused Facebook of misleading lawmakers by downplaying the risk of users' data being shared without their consent. Conservative legislator Damian Collins said he would ask Facebook chief Mark Zuckerberg or another executive to appear before his committee, which is investigating disinformation and "fake news.
Source

LONDON -- Lawmakers on both sides of the Atlantic criticized Facebook and its chief executive, Mark Zuckerberg, after reports surfaced that another company, Cambridge Analytica, improperly harvested information from 50 million Facebook users. A British lawmaker accused Facebook on Sunday of misleading officials by downplaying the risk of users' data being shared without their consent.
Source

A Calgary Zoo ecologist has helped develop new guidelines to protect frogs, salamanders and other amphibians impacted by human development on the prairies.
"Amphibians are really sensitive because their skin will absorb all kinds of environmental contaminants or toxins," said Leah Randall, a population ecologist with the centre for conservation research at the Calgary Zoo.
Source

This story is part of our series Water at Risk, which looks at Cape Town's drought and some potential risks to the water supply facing parts of Canada and the Middle East. Read more stories in the series.
Source

Rob Anderson was fighting wildfires in Alberta when the helicopter he was in crashed into the side of a mountain. He survived, but lost his left arm and left leg. More than 10 years after that accident, Anderson, now 39, says prosthetic limb technology has come a long way, and he feels fortunate to be using "top of the line stuff" to help him function as normally as possible.
Source

Love them ??or hate them ?, emojis are everywhere, spreading through our texts, social media posts, and emails. They're in our inboxes ?, on the big screen ?, and even being used as evidence ? in courtrooms.
Source